RE: Dog urinating and defecating on your site while owners watch
To some - maybe many - their dog is as important as a child - perhaps more so. The pooch can do no wrong and if poochy needs to go, then go wherever. It sounds like these were at least on a leash. We have seen a few just wandering around with no one seeming to be looking for them - and these were not from outside the campground. This is one of the reasons we spray down the water spigot with disinfectant before hooking up to it. I have had dogs. I like dogs. But it is a dog - not a kid. And if the dog has to go, be aware of where it is going and stick to the road and not in people's spaces.

RE: ATT GoPhone ----Anything Better??
Straight Talk on the Verizon network - now $45 for unlimited talk, text, and 5 Gb of 4G LTE data per month. No contract. Straight Talk uses ATT, TMobile, and Verizon carriers. If the phone you are purchasing from Straight Talk at Walmart is a CDMA phone the carrier is Verizon - and there will be a red US map on the package. I have not seen a better deal on a Verizon phone - not even from Verizon;s own no contract plans.

RE: Roadtrek Water Pump - Revisited
Glad you solved the problem. Yes, the Summer Mode/Winter Mode two tanks in the 190 can drive you crazy if you don't know which direction to put each of the two levers - and to avoid the combination that messes everything up.
http://roadtrek190popular.blogspot.com/2013/02/summer-modewinter-mode-two-water-tanks.html

RE: Leveling block theft
This thread has taken many directions but just to remind everyone this is the Class B forum and a Class B in a campground that leaves in the day to go out sightseeing is different from a large RV or trailer that stays on site. We are coming back - and perhaps it just needs to be a given that if a site is empty with property still on it, this does not mean it was forgotten - and often these are things put there to mark the site as still occupied.

RE: Roadtrek Water Pump
The Roadtrek water pump should pretty much be silent when you turn on the switch on the wall or make a brief hum and then go silent- unless the hot water tank is empty and it will hum while it fills the hot water tank. When you open the faucet you should hear the pump start and hum as water comes out of the faucet or flush the toilet or run the shower. After filling your water tank, the first time you turn on the faucet a little water will spurt out and air will then follow that for a few moments until the water from the pump reaches the faucet and then it should flow steadily. There are two places that can be causing a problem for the water to flow slowly or trickle- two filter screens - one right before the water pump on the pipe coming from the tank and this looks like a black plastic short section of pipe with a round dome on top. That dome screws off - put a towel under it to catch any spill - water pump OFF when doing this. Inside the dome is a screen filter that catches any particles that should not go through the pump. This can get clogged if not cleaned at least once a year if not more. Take it outside and rinse the inside of that dome out. If it is not rinsing clean soak it in some vinegar and then rinse it again. Then screw it back on tightly. The other filter screen is on the sink faucet right at the tip - unscrew the tip and look at the screen and clean that off. This second filter will only effect the water coming out of the sink. If the toilet is slow, the toilet flush valve which is a part of the toilet in the back may be clogged or broken. Most problems are fixed by cleaning that filter in the dome before the pump.
If there is a water leak after the pump the pump starts and stops and keeps doing that when no faucet is on. If there is a leak before the pump, the pump sucks air and continues to run and not stop.
None of this should be necessary on a brand new Roadtrek - unless something is broken. On one that you have been using these are all possible.
Any clog or kink in a pipe will effect the flow of water. Most of the Roadtrek plumbing is Pex tubing and this can get kinked. we had a section before the water pump that was kinked and dealer/service had to cut it out. That was causing the pump to run constantly and no water flowed.

RE: Leveling block theft
1775, I also travel similar to the way you do although I will boondock if at all possible. Suggesting your late arrivals encourage theft is ludicrous.
In another thread the poster that suggested this nonsense talks about when they arrive at a campground at 9-10 pm they will do quick and quiet leveling if necessary. Kinda Funny.
So Oilman, have you read his Blog?
1775 says he arrives late most of the time, even has to inquire if the campground has gates that are locked at night. His stuff is being stolen, this has happened more than once. He says the RVer's he meets in the campgrounds aren't friendly, I wonder why that is?
Since there are people who will steal stuff for no reason, I don't think it's ludicrous to think that his camping behavior might give thieves a little more incentive.
And if you are going to quote me have the decency not to take what I say out of context. Thanks
This is what I said.
"For me, I always tried to get in, and set up before dark, Sometimes this didn't work out, but if it was later than say 9 or maybe10 PM, I would just hook up electrical, and crawl into the sack, read, or watch TV. Hoped I was level enough to sleep, but sometimes I had to do some quick, and quiet leveling."
That's right. I am out every day and back every night. Any campground that I am arriving in for the first time if I am getting there past the office closing has never had a problem with it and all have been set up to accommodate that with a box or cork board at the office door with reservations and the site assigned on it. I always tell them in advance if we know the trip is going to take us past closing to get there.
Others travel this way to. And this has nothing to do with how friendly other RVers are when you first arrive mid-day and attempt to say hello.
No one is disturbed when we come in at night, no one says a word when we see the guy in the RV in the next site - if there is anyone in the next site - the next morning - I said this all before - there is no excuse for stealing and your attitude about justifying theft as a way to get even or for being annoyed is pretty sick.
Read into my site what you like. Or don't read it at all. I have many readers who contact me directly to tell me how much they appreciate my telling it like it is and sharing how to make things work in their Roadtreks that the manual never makes clear and we have learned the hard way. Do I have a great love for RVing? I have no choice if we want to travel. Its OK. It is often not easy for where we want to go or where we would like to go - and we make the best of it.

RE: foul odor when flushing
Forget the packets - buy the chemical in liquid and there are measurements on the side of the bottle. The packets are supposed to dissolve - but they don't always. And after every time you dump the black tank you should be putting water in the amount of 10% of the tanks capacity right down the toilet immediately after dumping - along with the chemical. If the tank holds 40 gallons put four gallons of water in. Always keep your tank with water in it and you will avoid problems. In the winter if you winterize instead of water put the same amount of RV antifreeze into the black tank for the winter.
If you do all of this the only time you should begin to get a odor when the flap is open is when the tank is almost full. If it is really hot outside use more chemical if you start to notice an odor sooner.

RE: RV or Trucker Navigation App's / Websites
Co-Pilot - has RV profile along with car profile. No truck routing unless the truck can take RV routes. $10 and less when it is on sale and does not need a data connection to route and use for Nav as it has all maps you want stored on the phone/tablet. There is a free version to try - it has no automatic rerouting if you go the wrong way - so try it free and then get the paid app for full features.

RE: If You Don't Like Windows10?
I finally found out on Win 8.1 on my laptop how to shut off all updates and when we travel I now do just that - after one trip where to read email I had a two hour session of automatic updates to wait through before I could shut down. I expect that Win 10 will have the same thing - or, if not, someone will come up with a way to turn off automatic updating. I will not update my Win 7 pcs to Win 10. If MS wants to stop supporting Win 7 they will further be shooting themselves in the foot. I will update the Win 8.1 laptop to Win 10 as I do not like 8.1 and before that happens I will have a final complete backup of the Win 8.1 computer to restore it to if Win 10 stinks even worse.
Then there is always Linux which if not using Windows specific software packages - runs faster, and has open source software duplicating just about everything needed in software - including compatibility with Windows file formats.
I had Win 7, liked it, then when I bought a new computer, did not like 8.1 either. The solution is simple: download "Classic Shell", a free software. It makes 8.1 look like 7, but 8.1 is much faster, so now I'm fine with 8.1 (since it looks like 7). Google Classic Shell and you'll find it. It's extremely popular.
There is no way I will ever be updating to Win 10, not a chance.
There is no longer any need for Classic Shell. Win 8.1 Update which came out this past winter can boot to desktop and has a pseudo-Start menu at the bottom left just like Win 7 - all from Microsoft without running an overlay shell. But beyond that Win 8.1 has lots of quirks and is still a PITA. Move on the screen in the wrong way and the side menu keeps opening up, plus more that gets in the way.
Sadly with Win 10, MS is not dumping their apps that no one wants and are far from comparable to what is on Andriod and IOS - which they will never compete with in the tablet/phone market.

RE: "Refurbished" (?) Laptops
You are buying a laptop that someone had problems with and returned to a store as damaged and it was sent back to the company as it could not be resold in the condition that it was in. The company fixes it and sells it - as you say - as a refurb. Now when you buy it you are hoping that there was nothing else wrong with it that was not fixed. As to businesses turning in computers to the manufacturer when they want new computers - ? - if they want new computers chances are their current computers are outdated or underpowered for recent software.
If this is the only way to afford a laptop it is worth the risk - BUT it has to be for a lot, lot less than the same laptop would sell for new.

RE: prepaid telephone cards 1-800 service
X2 on Google Voice.
You can also get a Magic Jack plus which has a $35 a year subscription, connects to your computer network, and gives you unlimited free long distance calling from any phone in your house that is connected to the Magic Jack box. Phone calls are clear. You do not have to have your computer running to make calls or receive calls - this uses your home network and not your computer. You can also get a free app for your cell phone and answer and make magic jack calls from the cell using the same Magic Jack phone number.

RE: Leveling block theft
1775,
We travel and rv the same way you do and I see no reason why anybody should be justified to take the things you left behind because you come back and set up later than others. Or, are we supposed to stay the day and guard our belongs so that somebody who has misinterpreted our intentions doesn't take our things. To think that our actions, which make us victims is plain ridiculous!
Thank you!

RE: If You Don't Like Windows10?
I finally found out on Win 8.1 on my laptop how to shut off all updates and when we travel I now do just that - after one trip where to read email I had a two hour session of automatic updates to wait through before I could shut down. I expect that Win 10 will have the same thing - or, if not, someone will come up with a way to turn off automatic updating. I will not update my Win 7 pcs to Win 10. If MS wants to stop supporting Win 7 they will further be shooting themselves in the foot. I will update the Win 8.1 laptop to Win 10 as I do not like 8.1 and before that happens I will have a final complete backup of the Win 8.1 computer to restore it to if Win 10 stinks even worse.
Then there is always Linux which if not using Windows specific software packages - runs faster, and has open source software duplicating just about everything needed in software - including compatibility with Windows file formats.

RE: Leveling block theft
You know Robert, from reading your blog, you don't seem to enjoy RVing. Maybe the reason your not meeting any friendly RVer's has more to do with your attitude than theirs. Unlike you, I have met mostly friendly RVer's, and have had made some lasting friendships. We have had several RVer's stay on our property when they were passing through.
I think the fact that you come into your campsite late at night, do your hook ups, leveling, etc, may be one of the reasons your stuff is disappearing. Something to consider, eh
Oh, and I believe no one has the right to steal anything from anyone, no matter how they may have been provoked.
Yes, we come and go every day. There is no reason to sit in a campground looking at the other RVs around you all day. We arrive mid-day generally at the arrival time set by the campground and wave and smile to others in the campground as we walk around. When we are out each start of the day and do the same. Some wave back, most don't. Generally we are the only Class B in the campground. And when I talk to others that I know with RVs they say pretty much the same thing about all those "happy campers" that are supposed to be out there.
When we come back at night we are quiet and hookup as quickly as possible. If what you seem to be saying is that we are upsetting others traveling the way we do, and the result is that they steal things from our site - that is pretty sad on their part. We are always in before quiet hours start. No one is being provoked. And stealing is wrong no matter what.
As I have said many times - we don't camp. We travel. Our mode of travel is the Class B and we are out to see the areas we visit. If I want to sit under trees I can do that in my own backyard. Everyone does what they like to do - and apparently from this thread we are not the only ones who get stolen from.

RE: PC Speakers for TV
Don't buy too cheap PC speakers. The TV audio can overwhelm a cheap speaker and result in tinny sound or a sound with a buzz. Go into a store like Best Buy where you can listen to the PC speakers for sale and see what they do with higher volume settings. You will then know that they will handle your television audio with clear audio output.

RE: Typical Data Usage
Ten gigs should be plenty but it depends on what you plan to do with it. Stream video 0 that it is good for ten hours of video and it is used up. You should be able to browse the web, send email, maybe stream a little music, and even use Voice over Internet with ten gigs per month for two. You can always increase it if you find that you need more.

RE: RVers Smartphone Apps
CoPilot, Gas Buddy, RVParky, IExit, Walmart locator, Compass, Goggle, FoxFi, Google Maps, All for Android and all free except CoPilot which also has a free version but has limitations. CoPilot is the app that I use the most in the RV - RV mode navigation with no need for a data connection as all full maps are on the phone.

RE: Portable Air Conditioning fit for a B
A portable air conditioner needs to be vented out a window - and they are made to vent out house windows and not RV or vehicle windows. The units are also very heavy - and in a B I can't figure where one would fit. We find the CoolCat A/C in our Roadtrek does a good job of cooling down the inside - even on very hot days. There is very little space to cool and mostly it gets too cold inside rather than not cold enough.

RE: Leveling block theft
Even with our sign - "Just Gone for the Day. Will Be Back Tonight" we have had things taken from our space including a flag and stand that we put out to make the site look occupied. There really is no excuse in a commercial campground where sites are assigned and there is a office to take things to if someone feels they were left behind (which has also happened to us which prompted the use of the sign to let them know we are coming back. We now rope off the campsite when we leave for the day - no question that we are coming back as the rope goes up across the entrance. You have to wonder why people who RV would need to steal a five dollar garden flag and seven dollar flag stand or three leveling blocks as were taken from the OP. I hear about all these friendly RVers at campgrounds - in four years we have met very few.

RE: Fresh Water Hose fittings
Thanks for the responses. My main concern was for any lead used on a brass fitting or chemicals from a plastic fitting that contaminate the drinking water coming through the hose. It seems to me also that a brass garden hose fitting should be no different when it comes to potable water than the brass fittings used on drinking water hoses.
I know that I can buy a four foot hose from Camping World but there are no Camping World stores within 200 miles from here and it is not worth the shipping and the cost of the hose when I have three extra 25 foot fresh water hoses sitting in my shed.
I will get a brass fitting with a secure connection and cut one of the 25 foot hoses down. Thanks!